Though Delecta BYDGOSZCZ scored on Saturday a 3:2 home win in the return match of the semis (25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, and 15-12), Russia’s Ural UFA claimed the golden set that followed (15-12) to make it to the final of the 2013 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup and play there Italy’s Copra Elior PIACENZA.
After losing on Wednesday in Russia, the home guys mentored by head coach Piotr Makowski started out really well cashing the opening set with the score of 25-18. The game was extremely close in the next couple of sets but Ural UFA showed some “killer instinct” down the final stretch to move up 2:1 in sets. Supported by their fans, the players of Delecta could seize the fourth set and call for the tie-break where they played with great consistency and showed excellent reception to make it to the golden set. However, in what is a real make-or-break bout, Ural UFA caught the better start (3:0) and did not look back to cruise to the 15-12 that sealed the game and contributed a ticket to the final.
Delecta team captain Wojciech Jurkiewicz could not hide his disappointment during the press conference that followed the game: “We could achieve only half of the goals we had set for this game. Though we won the match it wasn’t enough to make it to the final as the golden set went to our opponents. We can’t blame ourselves as we played our best and it was just a question of bad luck”.
“I have to congratulate our opponents because they played an amazing game and we are really impressed by the quality they displayed today” Ural UFA team leader Alexey Kazakov said. “This time Delecta could line-up their starting setter Michal Masny and this literally changed the game in comparison with the first clash we had in Ufa. We had some more luck in the golden set and could finally make it to the next round”.
“I first of all would like to congratulate our opponents from Russia as they were better than us today” Delecta mentor Piotr Makowski said. “They have got great individual players who simply compose a great team. I wish them all the best for the final match with PIACENZA. I also have to thank my players who played superbly today though we failed to win the golden set”.
“I am evidently happy with this win as this was a tough match. We eventually could make it through at the golden set and advance to the final” concluded a delighted Angiolino Frigoni, the Italian-born head coach of Ural UFA.